Fires of Vengence
by Firestorm2004
Summary: The future is a desolate place. Given a chance to change it, Saotome Ranma, Kudo Shinichi, and Inuyasha travel back in time to fix past mistakes. When they arrive, however, the world is not what they expected: 'Present' Ranma's dead and the well is sealed
1. The Return to Innocence

Fires of Vengeance

AN: I posted this fic before, but it was removed. Didn't understand why, something about trying to claim the lyrics as my own. I put the song title and artist at the end. Either way, please, don't have it removed again!

To understand some of this story, you might want to read Icka's _Shinigami Universe_. The Detective Conan side is based off of that AU. While it is not required to enjoy the story, it will definitely help out. Also, remember: Bold is flashbacks, italicize is thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song or _Detective Conan_, _Ranma ½_, or _Inuyasha_.

Chapter 1 - The Return to Innocence

_Love - Devotion  
Feeling - Emotion_

_Don't be afraid to be weak  
Don't be too proud to be strong  
Just look into your heart my friend  
That will be the return to yourself  
The return to innocence_

_If you want, then start to laugh  
If you must, then start to cry  
Be yourself don't hide  
Just believe in destiny _

_Don't care what people say  
Just follow your own way  
Don't give up and use the chance  
To return to innocence_

_That's not the beginning of the end  
That's the return to yourself  
The return to innocence  
It's a return to innocence_

"Return to Innocence" - Enigma

It was a crispy Saturday morning, in the middle of summer. There was hardly any noise at the moment, for not many people were up and walking around at 5 am. This was the reason no one noticed the sudden shimmering of a light in an alley was. Nor was there anyone around to see what looked like a gate or a portal open up, spilling three weary travelers out and shutting behind after them. The three humans picked themselves up, gathered the belonging they had brought with them, and set off at a normal pace, looking around as if making sure no one had seen them appear.

As the sun rose over the horizon, its rays illuminated the travelers. The man in the forefront squinted his eyes as he continued down the street. His clothes were torn and he had bruises all over, his right arm wrapped with a bandage that was soaked with blood. The 22-year-old did not care. Walking beside him was his two companions, both male. One of them had blue eyes and black hair in a pigtail. He was wearing a red Chinese shirt and black pants. The other was a little different from the other two. He had unusual silver hair that went down past his waist. What made him different, though, was the fact that he had dog's ears on the top of his head, instead of human ones.

"Ranma, Inuyasha, We've made it," Shinichi said as he saw the Mouri Detective Agency. "We've made it back. Back to the time where our fiancées are still alive…"

------------

Kagome sat on her bed, hugging her pillow. She'd been in her room ever since she first returned home from the Sengoku Jidai era. Everyone was worried about her, for she'd not left since arriving last night…

**BAM!**

**The door slammed open and Ms. Higurashi looked out of the kitchen to see her only daughter drop her backpack and run up to her room. Immediately, she knew something was wrong with Kagome, and there was only one person it could be about: Inuyasha. Some people might consider not ver bright, but the Higurashi matriarch knew where her daughter's heart lied. It was with a silver haired, inu youkai 500 years from the past. **

**"Kaasan?" a young voice by her side broke through her thoughts. "What was that?"**

**Ms. Higurashi looked down at her son, Souta, and smiled. "That was just your sister returning. She seemed a little upset, so let's give her sometime."**

**Souta grinned up at her. "Okay! I hope Inuyasha-niichan's coming too!"**

**The Higurashi matriarch just laughed as she returned to making dinner for her family.**

When her mother had come up a few hours later, she was surprised to find Kagome asleep, and looking very troubled. Ms. Higurashi moved Kagome around so that she could cover her daughter with her blanket and turned out the lights, knowing in a little while, Kagome would come down the stairs and tell her what was wrong. _I wonder what the fight was about this time,_ the Higurashi matriarch had thought as she shut the door and headed back down to her son.

**------------**

"Why do I have to wait!" Kudo Shinichi shouted at his companions, staring in their direction as if daring one of them to go against him. "I've waited for 5 years to see her again, I'm not waiting any longer."

"Calm down, Shinichi," Saotome Ranma told his friend. He too wanted to see his girl, but he also knew the ramifications about see her too soon. "We'll see them soon, just not yet. Remember, you're not the only one to lose a loved one."

"I don't care! I want to see her NOW!"

"Shinichi, surely because you're a Shinigami, you know what might happen if we change the past too much. We only have a limited time here, so we need to be careful," Inuyasha said, putting in his two cents worth.

"Alright, alright, you guys win. But what are we going to do? I don't want the future to happen again. I don't ever want to see that again…"

"We know, we know. Now let's get down to business. What are we going to do? We only have two weeks to change the past. At least, that's what the old ghoul said, so I wouldn't push it." Ranma looked at his friends for suggestions.

"I think we'd better gather a bit of information first. There are a few things we need to know: One, what today's date is; two, what is going on in our past selves lives; Three, where the heck the Hell's Fury gang is. The last one can wait until we can more prepare everyone for the fights," Shinichi said, starting to layout a plan. "Let's first work on what we'll teach our previous selves. After all, they can't learn everything we know now in two weeks."

"Agreed."

------------

"Akane?" Kasumi opened the door and looked in on her younger sister. In the dark room, she could barely make out the shape of the youngest Tendo lying on her bed, curled into a fetal position. "Akane? Can you please come eat?" Kasumi tried asking again.

The blob on the bed moved a little bit, but no sound came out. Sighing, Kasumi opened the door more and walked in, shutting it behind her. Moving over to Akane's desk, Kasumi sat down in the chair and took a better look at her sister. Akane was still curled up into a fetal position, hugging her stuffed P-chan with all her might. Kasumi could see the tear tracks on her face. The eldest Tendo sister's heart went out to the broken girl in front of her.

"Akane, you can't blame yourself for what happened. It was an accident."

"Why?…" Came the question, miffled from behind her stuffed animal. "Why'd he have to die?"

"We all die at some point in our lives. Some just come sooner than others."

"But why did _he_ have to be the one to die? Why couldn't it have been someone else? Why'd he have to die _now_?" Akane broke off her questions as sobs came out, racking her whole body.

"There, there, Akane. You should be grateful. He, at least, died a hero's death," Kasumi told her as she moved to sit on the bed.

"But I didn't get to tell him!" Akane wailed, dropping her stuffed toy and throwing herself into her sister's arms. "And I'll never know if he cared or not? Why'd he have to go so soon!" Akane couldn't say anything more as her tears overpowered her and she just clung to her sister for dear life, letting wave after wave of anguish and suffering pass through her.

For her own part, Kasumi was at a loss. Her little sister was hurting, and for once, there was nothing she could do. _Why did it have to end like this? They would've been so good for each other!_ Kasumi thought to herself.

Akane kept her hold onto Kasumi even when she'd cried herself back to sleep. Every time Kasumi tried to move or get her to let go, Akane'd whimper and pull her sister closer, seeking a safety Kasumi knew didn't exist outside of _his_ arms. That was who Akane really wished was there, holding her: the man she grew to love.

As she continued to hold her sister, Kasumi reflected on the past couple of years. Ever since their mother's death, all three Tendo girls had changed. For her, she had almost no childhood, being somewhat forced to take over her mother's position and grow up quickly. Nabiki had a similar situation. She had to grow up fast also, but instead of taking care of the house like Kasumi did, she took care of the finances. This caused a poker face to grow, over taking the kind hearted little sister that Kasumi once knew.

Out of the three of them, you could say that Akane had it the worst and also the best time. She was still able to keep a childhood and grow up normal in that sense, but what happened to her was much worse. Akane'd shut off all feeling and emotions of love or companionship, allowing no one to get any closer, for fear of losing them too.

When Ranma and Akane had first met, Kasumi hoped the red-haired girl would be able to become a much-needed friend for Akane, since it'd looked like they very well couldn't complete their fathers' arraigned marriage. But when they found out that Ranma was actually a guy, Kasumi felt like there was no one out there who could help her sister. Because of the way the male side of Ranma and Akane had met, it'd put a damper on any feelings growing between them, thus cause more pain for both of them in the end.

Kasumi shook her head to clear her thoughts as the bedroom door opened to show Nabiki.

"Kasumi? How is she?" Nabiki asked as she sat down on the desk chair.

"Not good, I'm afraid. I think this maybe the last straw for her. She finally opened to someone and they were once again taken away from her. I don't know what to do anymore, Nabiki!" Kasumi surprised her sister by breaking out into tears. "Akane's hurting and there is nothing I can do. What am I supposed to do now? I'm not god. I can't bring him back. And yet, if he doesn't come back, I'm afraid we may lose her for good."

Nabiki stared at Kasumi in shock. Never had the happy, almost oblivious Kasumi shown so much emotion or pain. To be honest, Nabiki wasn't for sure what to do either. Ever since they'd gotten the word of his death, she'd been worried about Akane's continued health. For once, money couldn't fix the problem.

Looking down at her younger sister, Nabiki ran her hand over her cheek and spoke, for once, with rare insight. "The only thing we can, Kasumi: show her we're still here for her."

------------

"Alright, let me get this straight," Ranma said as he went over their plans once again. "We each split up and go to our respective selves. We somehow convince them to believe that we came from the future and then once again, convince them that we need them to go to the meeting."

"That about sums it up," Shinichi replied.

There was a pause for a few seconds before Ranma spoke once again. "Well, I like it. So when do we begin."

"As soon as we are done here. I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. No offence, but none of your cooking is anything like Kagome's Ramen," Inuyasha said, his stomach growling.

Shinichi and Ranma laughed. "You've been living in our era for five years and you still haven't found anything better than Ramen. You are one crazy demon, Inuyasha," Shinichi replied.

"Hey, potato chips aren't too bad!"

All three broke out in laughter at his comment, but quieted down when the food came. After they were done eating and had paid the bill, they split up, going their separate ways and promising to meet up again in three days, at the designated spot and time.

------------

"Conan-kun! Tousan! Breakfast!" the young woman's voice rang through the house, bringing the two out of their pleasant dreams. For Mouri Kogoro, it was a date with the newest pop star model. For the not so young Edogawa Conan, it was about being his true self and going on a date with the girl of his dreams. As they both treaded down the stairs, they could pleasant aroma from Ran's cooking and it speed up their waking processes. By the time they had reached the dining room, both were capable of intelligent speech.

Conan watched with fascination as Ran turned a simple breakfast into a feast for the three of them. Just as she was about to sit down at the table, though, there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that is, this early in the morning," Ran stated as she walked out to answer it. Conan heard her open the door and then her startled gasp.

Wondering who it was that could surprise Ran, Conan got down and was heading towards her when he heard her cry of, "SHINICHI!"

_Shinichi?_ Conan thought as he continued on his way. _But I'm right here. Why'd she say my name, unless…_ All of Conan's thoughts shut off as the scene at the door came into view. Standing there, holding Ran in his grasp, was none other than Kudo Shinichi, the famous teenage detective.

_HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!_ Conan thought as the world turned black and he fainted from shock and lack of food…

------------

Inuyasha sat in the tree, contemplating what was going on. It was unusual, for the window was shut and locked and the blinds were closed, not allowing him view of the room. As far as he could remember, she'd never done that while she was in her time, and he could tell she was here because of her scent. It was one of the few scents he'd memorized because of the time he'd spent with her. The absence of his scent didn't surprise him, for he knew his behavior from this time did leave much to be desired. Spending five years without her had made him grow up a lot.

Sighing, Inuyasha resigned himself to doing what he didn't want to do. Jumping down, he went to the front door, and rang the bell. After waiting for a few moments, the door opened to reveal Kagome's mother.

"Inuyasha?" To his amusement, she sounded surprised. "What're you doing here? Did you somehow unseal the well?"

That shocked the dog demon. The well is sealed? If so, he had a major problem on his hands. Deciding to think about later, Inuyasha asked the one question he'd never thought he'd be able to again: "Where's Kagome?"

Silently, her mother motioned to her bedroom and Inuyasha took off with a leap and landed at the top of the stairs. He slowly opened her bedroom door and looked in, seeing her on her bed, facing the wall and hugging her pillow. He could smell her tears quite strongly, meaning she'd been doing a lot of crying. Inuyasha was determined to fix that. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him and turned to face Kagome, who still had her back to him.

"Kagome?"

------------

Ranma was busy jumping over the rooftops, hoping to stay out of sight from anyone he knew. He didn't want to arouse suspicion just yet, and knowing the Nerima Wrecking Crew, once someone spotted him, his life would once again go down the drain. Just as he passed Furinkan High School, a familiar cry rang out.

"DAMN YOU, RANMA!"

Curious to why the shout, Ranma headed over in the direction of the eternally lost boy, for once, not understanding his predicament. After all, when someone blames you for something, don't you want to know what you supposedly did? And, as everyone knew, Ryoga blamed _everything_ on Ranma, whether it was really his fault or not.

Ranma finally caught up with the martial artist near the edge of the forest. For some reason, Ryoga looked a lot more down that usually, like he'd just lost someone close to him. Not understanding the situation, Ranma approached the depressed boy and gave is usual remark.

"Yo, Ryoga, how's it goin'?"

Instantly, Ryoga flipped around and brought his hands up to fight. "RANMA, PREPAre t…." Ryoga trailed off when he realized what he was saying and whom he was saying it to. "No," he spoke, his face full of fear and dread. "It's not possible…you can't be here…."

"Okay, man, you're starting to freak me out. Why can't I be here?" Ranma asked, moving closer.

"You…you can't be….you're dead!"

------------

"Conan-kun? Conan-kun, you okay?" Ran's voice filtered through the haze surrounding the detective's brain. "Come on, Conan-kun. Time to wake up."

Conan slowly opened his eyes to look into Ran's concerned ones. Shaking his head lightly, Conan moved to sit up. "Ran-neechan, I just had the weirdest dream. Shinichi-niichan returned home."

Conan watched in horror as Ran smiled. 'That was no dream, Conan-kun. Shinichi's finally returned!"

Instantly, Conan shot up, ready for action. "Where's Shinichi-niichan right now?"

"I'm right here, Conan-kun." Conan looked up and saw Kudo Shinichi standing in the doorway leading to the dinning room. "Ran, do you think I can have a word with Conan-kun privately for a few moments? It seems he doesn't particularly like me."

Ran sighed. She'd hoped to be able to not lose sight of Shinichi for many hours, as he had a bad tendency of disappearing in a moment's notice. "Fine, but don't take long. Breakfast is almost ready."

She disappeared into the kitchen and Conan motioned for Shinichi to sit down on the couch, his watch pointed at the older detective. "Okay, who are you really?"

Shinichi smiled. "What? Can't tell by my appearance?"

"Appearances can be deceiving."

"Alright, I'm Kudo Shinichi, 22 years old. Meitantei of the West."

"Now I know you're lying. Shinichi isn't 22 years old."

"He would be if he was from the future."

"Yeah, but everyone knows time travel is impossible in real life."

"That's what you think. How shall I prove it to you? Ah yes: Let's see, Hattori's only 1/4 oni; Koizumi-san's a witch; Toyama-chan's a neko; Ran's an ice/snow maiden; Kuroba Kaito, AKA Kid, is a kitsune, and a white one at that…oh, and of course, we're both Shinigami's!" Shinichi smirked at the shocked expression on Conan's face.

"Yes, I do know you are Kudo Shinichi, age 17, reduced to being a school boy, Conan-kun."

"There's no way….I'd have felt your Shinigami power's by now…you can't be me…oh man, oh man, he knows my secret!" Shinichi shook his head as Conan's antics. Ever since he'd been force fed that pill that'd reduced his body, he'd developed a fear to being exposed. He didn't like it when _anyone_ knew about his alternate identity. At least, that was the way it was until he'd found the cure.

Shinichi sighed and changed into his shinigami form, startling Conan out of his shock induced haze.

"You…you really are a shinigami…you really are…me…" Conan said in bewilderment.

Before Shinichi could respond, though, his cell phone rang. Answering it, he recognized who was on the other line.

"Hello, Ranma. How'd it go?"

_"We've got problems."_ Came the reply.

"What are they, and how bad?"

_"I'm dead…"_

AN: Well, what'd you think? Some may say that I haven't done enough with the Inuyasha side of things, but give it time. Each series will have their chance to stand in the spotlight. I thank _Meitantei _Mystery and my sister for beta reading this chapter. I hope everyone is enjoying this story and will give me feedback. After all, it's nice to know one's story is appreciated…


	2. The Meaning of Life

Fires of Vengeance

AN: The song's lyrics are edited. I removed repeating phrases. Remember: Bold is flashbacks, italicize is thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song or _Ranma ½_, _Inuyasha_, or _Detective Conan_.

Chapter 2 - The Meaning of Life

_Fumbling his confidence  
And wondering why the world has passed him by  
Hoping that he's meant for more than arguments  
And failed attempts to fly, fly_

_Dreaming about providence  
And whether mice or men have second tries  
Maybe we've been livin' with our eyes half open  
Maybe we're bent and broken, broken_

_We want more than this world's got to offer  
We want more than the wars of our fathers  
And everything inside screams for second life, yaaa  
_

_We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
We were meant to live_

"Meant to Live" - Swithfoot

**_"We've got problems."_ Came the reply.**

**"What are they, and how bad?"**

_**"I'm dead…"**_

Conan watched as Shinichi stiffened. "What do you mean, 'I'm dead'?" Shinichi only halfway calmly asked Ranma.

_"I mean, my present self is dead."_

Conan could hear some of the conversation. All he understood was _problems…I'm dead…present self…_ He didn't know exactly what it meant, but he could tell the speaker was a young man. Conan did the only thing he could do. He changed to his shinigami form to use his powers.

As Conan was reaching out to find the live threads, Shinichi was unconsciously doing the same. Soon, he realized his actions and immediately searched for the present Ranma's thread. Surprisingly, he found it not only uncut, but also very strong. He sighed in relief.

"Ranma? I don't think we have to worry about that," he told his friend.

_"Why do you way that?"_

"Well, I just checked his life thread, and it was still very strong and very much in one piece."

Conan frowned. Something was up. The only cut thread he'd found was an old lady who lived in Osaka, who's time it'd been to die. Of course, that was a surprise, because, as Heiji told him many times, death followed him like a lost puppy. Eventually shrugging and chalking it up to something Shinichi would eventually tell him, Conan dropped his shinigami form and returned to being human.

"Did you find out who started the rumor?" Shinichi asked Ranma.

_"Apparently, no one started it. Supposedly, there was an accident where a train derailed and ran into a building. There was a fire going on and it was getting dangerously close to the engine's fuel source. He, being the hero type, still rushed in there to save anyone he could. After getting everyone else out, he went back in one last time to check to make sure no one else was left. It was then the fire reached the fuel and blew the building sky high. Cologne went in immediately after, looking for him, but came out a few minutes later with a sad and defeated expression. That's about all I could get from Ryoga. Apparently, Akane's been taking this quite hard, as she broke down this morning."_ Shinichi could feel the pain in his voice as he talked about Akane's reactions. Shinichi knew how much Ranma cared for his fiancée and would feel the same way if it was Ran. It was the feeling of wanting to rush over there and make her feel better.

"I know you want to go to her, but we can't let too many people see us, especially not until we find the present Ranma. Give me a few hours and I'll see what I can do. Stay out of sight, especially from Akane. If she sees you, things for the two of you might take a turn for the worst."

_"Alright, but I don't have to like it. Just remember, I still don't like to see girls cry, especially her."_ Shinichi laughed. That was one trait the group shared. All three couldn't stand the tears of a female, and if they ever found that out, they'd all be in trouble.

"I'll give you a call in a little while. Talk to you then."

_"Bye."_

Conan watched as Shinichi hung up his cell phone. "Okay, _niichan_, what was that all about?"

Shinichi sighed. Now, it was time to explain a little bit more. "That, _otouto_, was my friend, Saotome Ranma."

"What'd he mean he's dead?"

"Ranma's from the future like me. When he went to meet his previous self, he came onto the startling discovery: the present Ranma's already dead."

"That's not true! The only one who's died recently is an old bachan in Osaka."

"Exactly. Somehow, someone's hiding Ranma against his will, and the only ones I know who can do that are the Amazons."

"Amazons?"

"Chinese Amazons. One warning: don't defeat any of them in combat. At least, not if you don't want to find yourself engaged to one. It's their stupid law: if an amazon is defeated by an outsider, depending on the gender, they either have to marry them or kill them. Ranma found this out the hard way."

"I take it the amazons don't take no for an answer?"

"Exactly."

Shinichi sighed one again, and turned away from Conan's expecting look. This was going to be a long day.

------------

"Kagome?"

The voice Kagome thought she'd never hear again sounded in her room, throwing her already chaotic emotions spiraling even more out of control. _How?_ was the first thing that popped into her mind. _How is he here?_ Not bothering to further question fate, Kagome did the only thing she'd wanted to do since first meeting him.

"Inuyasha!" she shouted, turning around and throwing herself into his arms, her tears coming out in full force.

Inuyasha just held her, surprised by the grip she held him with. He'd always known somewhere she'd cared for him somewhat, but by her reactions, he started to wonder how deep those feeling went Did they go as deep as his did? Did she care about him as he did her? Inuyasha could not bring himself to believe anything else, for he'd spent five years without her, and although he'd only have a limited time with her again, she now meant more to him than anything else.

Soon, Kagome's emotions quieted down enough so she was able to start asking questions. The biggest one bugged her to no end. "Inu…Inuyasha? How?"

"How?" Inuyasha replied. "A long story, to answer that one," he continued. "A very long one."

Kagome didn't answer, just snuggled deeper into his arms, giving an unconscious signal to the hanyou that he should continue. Inuyasha sighed. He didn't want to break Kagome's heart again, but for her to know the truth, he'd have to do just that. She had to know he wasn't the hanyou she thought he was.

"Kagome," he started. "Many things have changed. Many things are not what they seem." Kagome gave him a confused expression. _DAMN!_ he thought. _I guess I can't keep scurting the edge_. "I'm not the Inuyasha you know."

Kagome gasped. "Wha…what? How's that possible?" she asked, bewildered.

"I'm not the same hanyou you went searching for the jewel shards with. I'm not the same hanyou you grew to care…I'm not him…" he ended softly.

Kagome started to pull back, out of his grasp. "Who…are you?"

"A tired, weary, and broken hanyou." Inuyasha sighed as he described his present emotional state. Even having Kagome in his arms did not help it much.

Once again, Kagome's kindness and concern overpowered her fear of the unknown. She moved her arm and placed it on his cheek. "Please…please tell me everything."

------------

Ranma hated waiting, especially when there was nothing he could do to speed up the time spent doing nothing. Some might go as far as to say Ranma was impatient, but that was not the case. When he needed to wait, he would. He didn't have to like doing it.

Sitting up and groaning during the process, Ranma looked at his watch. It'd been 2 hours since he'd last talked with Shinichi and had given him the heads up about his 'problem'. Since then, he'd been waiting with Ryoga on top of Furinkan High School, so as not to attract any more attention.

"Why exactly aren't you going to Akane?" Ryoga asked his companion.

Ranma sighed. "Because, for the thousandth time, I'M NOT FROM THIS TIME!" _Keep calm, _Ranma chanted to himself. _Keep calm think of calming thoughts. Now is not the time to kill the stupid pig. Calm, got to keep calm. Ice cream, smooth, silky, Akane's hair…Akane…DAMN IT THIS AIN'T HELPING!_

"I still say that is not possible. Have you finally made your decision? Going after that stupid, amazon bimbo now? Finally given up on Akane? You know she never could like you," Ryoga continued to push. "After all, who could ever like a half-girl freak like you?"

"That's it! I've had it with you!" Ranma shouted, surprising Ryoga. Before he knew what was happening, Ryoga found himself embedded 4 feet in a nearby wall, pain exploding all over his body. "Don't you ever insult Akane that way. She's hurting more right now that you'll ever do. And, for your information, I'm no longer cursed, unlike a stupid pig I know!"

"DAMN YOU RANMA!" Ryoga shouted. He didn't move because every single little muscle movement was excruciating pain for him. He finally admitted to himself that this Ranma was not someone to mess with.

When he'd first met the future Ranma, Ryoga had been a little skeptical about him being alive. Not even he, Ryoga, could've survived the blast that supposedly was Ranma's undoing. But when the future Ranma had shown up, Ryoga started to think that this was just an elaborate scheme to keep Akane away from him while Ranma spent time with his other fiancées. Now, after the backhand Ranma gave him, he was starting to question his theories.

Ranma, for his own part, was finally starting to calm down. He knew he shouldn't have lashed out at Ryoga like that, but after the past five years, spending all that time trying to find the spell to send them back, only to find out he's supposedly dead, and then on top of it, having to deal with Ryoga's antics, it was just too much for the martial artist to handle.

Taking several deep breaths, Ranma walked over to Ryoga and started pressing pressure points, to ease the pain and help him regain mobility. When he was finally done, he pulled Ryoga out of the hole and helped him sit down.

"Don't do that again, if you want to live," Ranma told his companion, his tone utterly serious. "The past five years of my life have been so dark that your life would seem like heaven in comparison. Don't ever try crossing my anger again. I usually don't get angry, but there was just too many shocks today. Sorry."

All Ryoga could do was nod. Here, he'd just verbally attacked Ranma, and after hitting him, Ranma'd helped him with the pain and was APOLOGIZING. That alone blew all of Ryoga's theories about this being the same Ranma he knew.

"Well, hopefully soon, Shinichi's going to call and…" Ranma was cut off when his cell phone rang. "Speak of the death god…." He muttered as he answered the phone.

_"Ranma,"_ Shinichi's voice came over the phone. _"I've found where your previous self is."_

"Who done it?"

_"Cologne."_

"I figured it'd either be her or the old pervert. When she and the other amazons disappeared earlier today, it helped confirm my suspicions. What do we do? How are they holding me?"

_"From what I can tell, they've used some drug to take over his mind. They're back in the amazon village right now."_

"How is that possible?"

_"It seems even in this time, she's gifted in opening portals."_

"Okay, where do we met and when?"

_"Half an hour at Furinkan High School."_

"I'm already there. I'll see you in thirty minutes."

_"Alright. Bye."_

Ranma hung up his phone and turned back to Ryoga. "Hey, Ryoga. I need to ask you a favor. While I'm gone, look after Akane. Don't let her know about me, but do try to convince her that I'm coming back. You got that?"

Ryoga nodded, surprised Ranma would ask such a thing of him. _Maybe my judgements about him have all been wrong?_ He thought to himself as he jumped off the roof and headed for the Tendo Dojo, praying he was going the right way.

------------

"Poor guy…left alone…"

"Doesn't eat."

"Never sleeps."

"All he does is sit there."

These and many more sayings floated around the village. Ever since the defeat of Naraku and, subsequently, the completion of the jewel, Inuyasha had turned from being a headstrong, hot-blooded defender, to the emotionally numb hanyou he was now. For the first time, he'd completely opened up his heart to someone and, just like all the times before whenever he trusted someone, they betrayed him. Just like before, they left him on his own. Now, Kagome was gone for good.

He'd tried following her. Tried jumping into the well. Tried reaching her side, but to no avail. The well wouldn't open. It wouldn't accept his need, his worry, his pain. He'd not tried just once. The bruising on his legs, sides, and chest would ascertain that. He'd jumped in, time after time, until he'd lost track of how many drops he'd made, how many hard landings. Even then, he didn't give up when it got tuff. No, he instead waited inside the well, not coming up for anything.

His 'friends' had called to him, trying to get him to come out, trying to get him to leave the only place he had left of Kagome. They weren't his friends anymore. Any true friends would've been compassionate, caring, letting him stay there. They wouldn't have tried scheme after scheme to get him away from the bone-eaters' well. No, he had no friends. The only person he could depend on was himself. Everyone else had betrayed him. He'd learned a hard lesson the first time with his mother's death and subsequent rejection from any permanate place. Now, he'd learned an even harder lesson. One, he'd never forgot, for it hit his heart in a place he never knew he had.

When Kagome had first found him pinned to the tree, he'd trusted no one. Before then, no one had trusted him. But, much to his surprise, it took only a short time before Kagome trusted him completely. Even though he didn't want to admit it, by that time, he was also starting to trust the girl from the future. But now she was gone, after promising to say by his side until he sent her way for good. He'll never trust another person again. Never again…

------------

Akane stared out her open window. Two days he'd been dead. Two days she'd felt like giving up. Today was the worst day yet. She was feeling so depressed right now, she figured she could launch several perfect Shi Shi Hokodans and still have enough depression left over to rival Ryoga. Ryoga…the man she thought to be her friend…the man who betrayed her in the end.

She'd always thought Ryoga would be there for her. Whenever Ranma was causing more trouble than she could take, he'd show up and help calm her down, even sometimes get back at Ranma. But this time…this time, he'd disappeared right after hearing about Ranma's death. Like he didn't care about anything else.

As she sat there thinking, she started noticing a few differences in her memories. Now that Ranma was gone, she was thinking about all the time she'd spent with him. A lot of those times they spent either fighting each other or one of the other rivals. One of the main opponents, she noticed, was Ryoga.

_Wait a minute…_ Akane thought as she continued to reflect on a depressing past, _could I have been wrong all along?_ Images flashed in her mind. Images of Ranma walking down the road with her, them talking, hearing 'RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!', Ryoga showing up, him fighting Ranma, her always hitting Ranma, telling him to 'stop picking on Ryoga'…

_HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO BLIND!_ Akane thought despairingly. _I always blamed Ranma for those fights, when in truth, Ryoga started most of them…I always blamed Ranma…blamed Ranma…Ranma…_

At the thought of her former fiancée, Akane's mind started to shut down. The pain was just too great for her take. _Ranma…please, please have survived somehow…they never found your body…please, don't have left me, like everyone else…I don't want to continue without you…_

Seeing the room was starting to grow darker because of the overcast, and feeling quite a bit lazy, Akane opened her curtains and window instead turning on her bedroom light.

As she sat there staring out at her neighborhood, Akane continued to think about her lost love. Then, much to her surprise, as if her thoughts had bidden him, Ranma appeared, running across the rooftops. She was just about to call out to him when she noticed something flying just above him. Akane paled as she recognized the creature: a shinigami.

As she stared in horror at the sight before her, a conversation drifted through her window.

"…Ranma…faster…don't have much time…make…appointment…"

"…wanted to…see…Akane…before I go…"

They passed out of view, totally oblivious to the woman watching them as her world crumbled once again. Just before she fainted, Akane let loose a shout so chilling, everyone who heard felt like hell had frozen over. It was the scream of someone who'd lost everything worth living for.

------------

Akane's scream brought her family to her side instantly. The door was slammed open as Kasumi raced into the room, followed closely by Nabiki and Soun. They all were fearing the worst. Much to their surprise and relief, all they found was Akane crumbled on the floor apparently passed out. Kasumi picked up her sister while Nabiki moved Akane's quilts out of the way. As soon as Akane was back in her bed, Kasumi sat down on her desk chair.

"I'm going to wait here until she wakes up," Kasumi told her family, her tone showing she had no intentions of ever changing her mind.

The other's just nodded and left Akane to her older sister. Kasumi took time watching her sister as she dreamed. She watched as Akane's facial expressions went from extreme happiness to anger to moderate understanding to pain and finally to extreme depression. When her face did not change again, Kasumi started to get worried. Her youngest sister, she knew, was dealt a hard life, but what was shown on her face left even Kasumi wanting to curse the powers that be for Akane's torment..

"Oh, imouto. How I wish things were different," Kasumi spoke as she wiped the sweat off of Akane's brow. "How I wish you could've been spared this pain."

------------

"Hey, Ranma! We have to go faster. We don't have much time to make it to the docks. If we miss this appointment, we won't make it in time to stop the amazon wedding. If they succeed, they'll use that to keep your younger self there!" Shinichi shouted as he and Ranma continued towards the harbor.

"I know. I had wanted to use a portal, so I could at least see Akane, but now I may not get that chance before I go back," Ranma replied back. "Where's your younger self?"

"Conan? He's going to be meeting us there. He's bringing a friend."

"Someone I know?"

"Nope, he died in our timeline before I met you."

"Oh, well I wonder what he'll be like."

"You're in for a big surprise. I think the three of us combining our magic with the medallion that Akako gave us, we might be able to jump across the ocean without taking a boat. Unfortunately, Akako said it was good only at a certain part of the day. If we miss that today, there won't be enough time to reach the present Ranma before the wedding. We're pushing it as it is."

"Well then, we'd better shut up and run faster." With that said, Ranma put all of the power he could into boosting his speed, increasing his pace. Shinichi sight and pushed his wings harder. If he couldn't fly, Shinichi was sure he'd never keep up with the martial artists. Even as it was, he was pouring everything he had just to stay with Ranma at his present speed.

Not soon enough, the harbor where they were to meet Conan and their friend came into view. As he slowed down, Shinichi looked around for the two, finally spotting them coming around a nearby corner.

"There you are!" Ranma shouted as he saw the little shinigami approaching them. He figured this had to be the miniature Shinichi, as he did think there were that many death gods just calmly walking around showing off their youkai side.

"Glad you both could make it," the fourth person said. As Ranma took a closer look, he noticed that this person seemed a little different than the others. His eyes were telling him he was just a ningen, but his enhanced nose was saying there was definitely something non-human about him.

"Ranma, I'd like you to meet Kuroba Kaito, our resident trickster," Shinichi said, going through the introductions. By his calculations, he figured they had a few minutes before they needed to leave. "Kaito, this is Saotome Ranma, the best martial artist of our time."

"Konichiwa, Saotome-san," Kuroba stated, bowing formally. "You look tired. Care for a drink of water?" From behind his back, Kaito pulled a water bottle, still cool to the touch.

"Arigato, Kuroba-san," Ranma said as he took the bottle and drank his fill. He watched as Kaito passed water out to the other two before taking a drink from his own.

"I take it Conan brought you up to speed on what's going on?" Shinichi asked Kaito.

"Yeah, but some of it still is slightly confusing. Especially, the part of you two being from the future. I mean, I can do great illusions, but what your claiming seems nigh impossible," he replied.

"I know. If it hadn't happened to me, I most likely wouldn't have believed it either." Just then, Shinichi's watch alarm went off. Hitting the off button, Shinichi turned to his friends. "Well, it's time. I take it, you know what to do, Kaito?"

Kaito nodded and got into position, along with Shinichi and Conan. Ranma stood off to one side to let them work. The area they were currently in was deserted, so they didn't worry about people watching them as both Shinichi and Conan were in their Shinigami forms. Soon, a portal opened in front of them and Shinichi motioned for Ranma to cross over first. As soon as he went through, he was followed by Conan, Kaito, and finally Shinichi. The portal closed right after Shinichi's wings passed through.

Taking a deep breath, Ranma looked around, trying to find something familiar. It took him a few moments to recognize where exactly in China they were, but he finally remembered.

"Hey guys, the amazon village is this way. I should be there in a few hours at most," Ranma shouted over his shoulder as he took off in one direction.

Conan, Shinichi, and Kaito all too off into the afternoon sky, Kaito using his hang glider and rope attacked to Shinichi to keep up. He'd figured that'd be the fastest way to travel. After all, according to Shinichi, they were pressed for time.

------------

Shampoo was literally bouncing around in joy. Finally, she'd won. She'd captured and brought back Ranma to be her husband. She didn't care if it was against his will. She didn't care he didn't love her. All she cared about was that he was strong and he'd beaten her in combat. After all, according to her laws, Ranma should've married her a long time ago.

_" Shampoo! What are you doing? Go get dressed! We don't have much time left before the potion wears off! Remember, we can't use it again. He'll have developed an immunity to it by the time this one's run it's course. Now, GO! "_ Cologne shouted to her great granddaughter.

Shampoo immediately took off for her room to change into her wedding gown, happy that it was finally time. She dressed as fast as she possibly could and then ran out of the house. All around her, her fellow amazons where preparing for this 'joyous' occasion. She was so intent on looking around, she wasn't watching where she was going and ran into a small boy.

"Oomph…little boy need watch where he go. Shouldn't get in Shampoo's way." She didn't know why, but she spoke to the boy in Japanese.

"Gomen, neechan. Wow! Pretty dress? What's happening?" the small boy replied.

"Shampoo finally getting married. Shampoo bring back strong husband. Ranma finally see things Shampoo's way!"

"Um, neechan, I don't think you want to be doing that…" he trailed off as someone approached Shampoo from behind.

"Get lost, young man. You don't belong at the wedding. It's only for the Amazon warriors," Cologne said rather heatedly as she hit the small child on the head with her cane. She'd been having problems with getting the wedding fast, and now with the boy slowing Shampoo down, her patience was at its end.

"NIICHAN! THEY'RE BEING MEAN!" the boy shouted. To all the amazons' horror, he changed shape right before their eyes and took off into the sky, his small shinigami wings pumping furiously. As another flying creature was seen approaching the little shinigami, Cologne wondered what she'd just done. It was then she recognized the other being: a fully-grown shinigami.

One thought echoed in the minds of all the amazons present. _Death had come to call_.

AN: Last time, I got three reviews. _THREE _reviews. Come on, three reviews with 250+ hits? I love reading people's comments, so I'd like to have more reviews. Plus, it does help the author, people, to get feedback. It can tell them where to focus more and what is good. So, please! Please! Leave a review!

Well, anyway, another chapter finished. I need to thank my sister for helping me beta read this chapter and also helping with the brain storming. Without her, this story probably would not be as good as it is.


	3. Return to Me, Salvation

Fires of Vengeance

AN: The song's lyrics are edited. Remember: Bold is flashbacks, italicize is thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song or _Ranma ½_, _Inuyasha_, or _Detective Conan_.

Chapter 3 - Return to Me, Salvation

_I tried to kill the pain,  
But only brought more.  
(so much more)  
I lay dying,  
And I'm pouring, crimson regret, and betrayal._

_I'm dying,  
Praying,  
Bleeding,  
Screaming._

_Am I too lost to be saved?  
Am I too lost?  
My god! my tourniquet,  
Return to me salvation._

_Do you remember me?  
Lost for so long.  
Will you be on the other side?  
Will you forgive me?_

_My wounds cry for the grave.  
My soul cries, for deliverance.  
Will I be denied?  
Christ! Tourniquet! My suicide._

"Tourniquet" - Evanescence

**"NIICHAN! THEY'RE BEING MEAN!" the boy shouted. To all the amazons horror, he changed shape right before their eyes and took off into the sky, his shinigami wings pumping furiously. As another flying creature was seen approaching the little shinigami, Cologne wondered what she'd just done. It was then she recognized the other being: a fully-grown shinigami.**

**One thought echoed in the minds of all the amazons present. _Death had come to call_.**

You could here a pin drop from the silence following the young boy's shout To the amazons, the expression on the fully-grown shinigami wasn't exactly pleasant. It was like looking death in the eye, and death was not amused.

Then, to the surprise of the elders, arrows, some with burning tips, started heading toward the flying creature. For Cologne, it seemed like some of the younger warriors thought that if they brought the creature down, they could increase their public standing. She immediately sought out the troublemakers.

"I am not a noontime snack!" The shinigami roared as the arrows continued coming.

Cologne, upon arriving at the archer's destination, bopped each and every one of the warriors on the head with her staff. "Fools!" she shouted, "Are you trying to get us all killed? That's a _shinigami_. It could kill us without even trying."

She turned back to watching the two youkai, when to her surprise, they disappeared from her view. After a few minutes every amazon took a deep breath.

Shampoo was no exception to the terror the shinigamis had evoked. After several moments, she turned back to where Ranma had been sitting a few moments before. Much to her astonishment, instead of him still there, there was note addressed to both her and her great grandmother. Opening it, she read the contents.

------------

_Shampoo, Cologne, and Amazon Villagers:_

_ Hello everyone! We are sorry to announce that the marriage between Saotome Ranma and Shampoo of the Chinese Amazons will not be taking place. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and hope you enjoy the rest of your stay on the earth._

_ Yours,  
__Kudo Shinichi,  
__Resident Shinigami_

_P.S. Shampoo, find your own husband. I'm already taken! Ranma Saotome_

------------

Shampoo screamed, her aura glowing brightly. Almost instantly, Cologne appeared by her side. Seeing she wasn't going to get an answer out her great granddaughter for a while, she picked up the note and, after reading it, paled visibly.

_"Shan Pu!"_ Cologne barked in Chinese. _"Do you know what this means?"_

_"Yes! It means Akane has stolen **my** husband once again!"_ Shampoo angrily shot back.

_"No, you fool! It means Ranma is out of our grasp forever. He is protected by a shinigami. We can do nothing more."_

_"No! I will not surrender Ranma to Akane! I will have Ranma, no matter the cost!"_ With that said, Shampoo ran out of the building to get ready to travel.

Cologne sighed. There was nothing she could do, now that her great granddaughter had chosen a path. She had that right. She sat there stewing about what she could possibly do to minimize the adverse affects she knew Shampoo was going to face, when she heard Mousse come up from behind her.

"I will follow her." It surprised Cologne to hear Mousse speak in Japanese, but his tone left no room for argument. Nothing she said could make him change his mind.

"Arigato, Mousse. I know you'll do your best." Even though it was rare, Cologne decided that being civil to Mousse was a good thing, since she couldn't go after her great granddaughter.

Mousse just silently left, going to prepare for the journey and hardship he knew he was going to face.

------------

When Akane woke up, Kasumi could immediately tell something was wrong, just by looking into her eyes. Instead of the usual fire burning, they were cold, empty, and dark. Akane just stayed lying down on her bed, not moving a muscle. It was like she'd given up on everything, and the real world didn't exist for her. She'd collapsed so far in on herself, Kasumi was worried her sister may never return.

"How is she? Is she wake?" Nabiki's voice came from the doorway. As Kasumi turned to face her, Nabiki was surprised to notice tears flowing down her face. Kasumi didn't say anything, just motioning for Nabiki to come closer.

Nabiki moved closer and almost cried out in shock at the state of her younger sister. Immediately, Nabiki could tell there was something terribly wrong with Akane. The only question she had, she knew no one could answer completely. _What do we do now? _Nabiki wondered as she and Kasumi stood watching over their sister.

------------

"Kagome," Inuyasha spoke, still holding the girl in his arms. "There is a few things we need to do."

Kagome was surprised. _He has changed in the five years…supposedly. _"What do we need to do?" she asked him, looking directly into his eyes.

"We need to meet a few friends of mine. Remember how I said I'm from five years in the future?" Kagome nodded. "Well, I didn't come alone. Two others helped me get here: Saotome Ranma and Kudo Shinichi. I've got some information I need to discuss with some of the friends of Shinichi and I'd like you to come along. Hopefully, along the way, we can have help with unsealing the well."

"Why?" Kagome asked. "Why are you doing all this?"

Inuyasha sighed. "The future I come from is dark and dreary place. Many horrible things happened, things we hope we can change."

"Wait a minute!" Kagome halfway shouted. "You came back in time to _change_ history to the way you want it? What about the laws of Physics and Time and…other stuff?" Things were starting to get over her head. Was what Inuyasha was trying to do good? Legal? Morally right? _There ware too many questions, and not enough answers,_ Kagome thought to herself.

"Kagome, the future…it shouldn't exist."

"How do you know? What is so bad about the future that needs changing?"

Inuyasha didn't want to tell her the full story, but he knew he'd need for her to hear some of it for her to go along with his plans. "The future…there really isn't much of a future anymore. In five years, 98 of the world's population, youkai, ningen, or hanyou, is dead." Kagome gasped at his words. "My friends and I are working on changing that."

"H…how? What happened to cause this mass destruction?"

"One group of terrorists: _Hell's Fury_. They somehow got a hold of some nuclear missiles, fired them at the major powers and started World War III." Kagome was surprised. Not only had he grown more emotional, but Inuyasha had kept up with current _ningen_ affairs. "We were lucky. Most of nuclear firearms had already been destroyed, but when the missiles were launched, all nations retaliated. Most of the land was inhabitable to youkai for 5 years. Ningen still can't go to those parts."

"If the group has nuclear capability, why don't you just alert the official?"

"Do you think people would believe three boys who claim the world is going to end soon, when there isn't much proof? Not fucking likely."

"So what are you going to do?"

"We're going to get a group together that's strong enough to fight the terrorists to stop them before making this world like our own."

"Alright," Kagome said, slipping out of Inuyasha's grasp and moving to her dresser. "Let me get dressed, and then I'll help you. Who is it we need to see?"

"Someone by the name of Hattori Heiji. Shinichi said we'd be able to reach him through Mouri Ran."

------------

"HOW COULD HE LEAVE AGAIN! AND THIS TIME, HE EVEN TOOK CONAN-KUN!" Ran shouted as she paced in her living room. Off in a corner, Mouri Kogoro cringed. It wasn't that he was afraid of his daughter. He knew she wouldn't hurt him, just sometimes her temper got the best of her and she wouldn't realize what she was doing until she calmed down. THAT was what freaked the detective.

"Now, calm down, Mouri-san. He is coming back," Koizumi told her friend. "After all, Kaito-kun's with him, so he'll make sure Kudo-san comes back."

Ran sighed. "I know, but I still don't like it. After all this time, he still leaves me just after he finally comes back."

"Hey, cheer up. When this is all over, Kudo-san will be with you. You did say he told you he wasn't going to leave you again."

Before Ran could respond to that, the doorbell rang, squashing any further arguments from her. She huffed, turned, and walked over to answer it. Opening the door, she was surprised to see two teenagers standing on the doorstep. One was a female with black hair and wearing a green and white sailor outfit. She looked to be about Ran's age. The other, from what she could tell, was a youkai. He had silver hair, wore a red outfit and had dog ears…dog ears…

"They're so cute!" Ran squealed, surprising the boy. Before he could react, Ran had reached up and rubbed her fingers across the ears. After a few seconds, Ran seemed to calm down and backed off. "Sorry 'bout that," Ran muttered, slightly embarrassed.

The girl just giggled. "See, Inuyasha. I'm not the only one who can't resist them."

The boy called Inuyasha just grumbled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? Please, come in," Ran said, opening the door more and motioning for them to enter. Once they had, she shut the door behind them. "So, what can I do for you? Have a case that needs help solving?"

To both of the girls' surprise, Inuyasha chuckled. "You could say that, not that Mouri-tantei could ever solve it."

His words set off Ran's temper. "You don't even know my dad, and yet you're already insulting him?"

"Actually, I know more about Mouri Kogoro than you probably do. But, that does not matter. I'm here to see Kudo Shinichi."

"What makes you think Shinichi's here? He's been missing for over a year now." Ran was surprised to hear that not only this boy had heard of her boyfriend, but knew he was back, even if he wasn't currently in the building.

"I know he's back because I talked with him yesterday morning."

"Oh…" Ran mumbled. "Well, I'm sorry, but he's…" She was cut off as the doorbell rang once again.

Grudgingly, Ran moved to open the door. This time, she knew who it was when she saw the two people standing outside.

"Kazuha-chan!" Ran squealed as she moved to hug her friend. Then, she turned to the boy standing next to Kazuha. "Hello, Heiji-kun."

"Hi, neechan. Can we come in? I've got some things I want to discuss with you."

"Sure, come right in."

As soon as the three had entered the living room, all hell broke loose. Inuyasha, who had been looking around the room, suddenly smelled a cat. Without him wanting to, his inu instincts took over. For them, the thought process was simple. _Smell cat…find cat…chase cat… _Frantically, his nose sought out the perpetrator. His gaze settled on Kazuha.

Kazuha, herself, noticed a dog's scent in the room, and being a neko youkai, she tried to find out who it was. Immediately, she saw the white haired stranger with the dog-ears, who was, surprisingly, growling. She moved behind Heiji.

Kagome was surprised when Inuyasha suddenly launched himself at one of the people in the room. Without thinking, she said the only word she knew could stop Inuyasha quickly. "Oswari!"

Much to everyone else's surprise and amusement, the inu youkai was suddenly brought down, face planting right into the floor. They were even more surprised when he didn't get up, instead choosing to curse up a storm that made even Kogoro blanch.

"Now," she said too calmly. "Do you want to explain to me why you just suddenly chose to attack a harmless ningen?" Kagome's voice left no room for arguments.

"Not….ningen…" the hanyou muttered from the floor.

"Why do you say that? Of course she's ningen! Just look at her!"

"Not…ningen…youkai…" Inuyasha continued to mumble.

Kagome looked over at a paling Kazuha. "Do you have any idea what he's talking about? I mean, I guess you can tell he's not ningen, but you've got to be."

Heiji knew trying to act human wouldn't work around the new boy. He was youkai, and his senses would pick up on the youkai traces not covered by their illusions. "Actually, we aren't," he said as he dropped his human appearance. "I'm part oni, Kazuha's a neko, and neechan's an ice maiden."

This surprised Kagome. "Well, that does explain why he tried to go after Kazuha-san. After all, he is an inu youkai."

Everyone except Kagome and Inuyasha paled at this.

"What's the matter?" Kagome asked innocently.

"Inu and neko don't mix," Kazuha stated, hiding more behind Heiji.

"Oh, nonsense. He'll be have himself, _won't you_?" Everyone could hear the underlying threat in Kagome's words.

Inuyasha hastily nodded.

"See? There's not going to be a problem." Kagome smiled like there was nothing wrong in the world, much to everyone's surprise.

Heiji sighed. "Well, I'd better do what I came to do."

Ran looked at him curiously. "What's that?"

"I don't fully understand either. Kudo called me yesterday morning and said to meet someone named Inuyasha. Why? I don't really know. He didn't even give me a description of him. He just said I'd know him when I met him."

Inuyasha stood up. "That'd be me."

Finally, Heiji's detective mind made the connection between the name he was given and the person standing in front of him. He immediately started berating himself for missing the clue Shinichi had given him.

"Why, oh why, didn't I make the connection?" Heiji told no one imparticular.

"Connection?" Kazuha asked.

"Inuyasha. Shinichi told me that I'd recognize Inuyasha when I saw him. Think about it; Inuyasha's got _inu_ in his name, and if I'd been thinking properly, I'd recognize the connection between the inu in his name and his appearance. MAN, I'M SO STUPID!"

"Calm down, Heiji-kun. Anyone could've made the same mistake you did," Ran told her friend.

"Yeah!" Kagome included. "After all, how many youkai do you see that have dog ears? Probably a lot."

"Actually," Heiji mumbled. "He's the first inu youkai I've seen."

"No way! I'd have sworn more inu youkai survived to this day and age." Kagome was stumped. _Did Inuyasha and Sesshomaru not make it to my time?_

"Well, most youkai hide their scent and looks today," A new voice said from behind them.

Everyone turned around to see a girl around their age. She had brown hair and was wearing her school uniform. Everyone except Kagome and Inuyasha recognized the new comer.

"Aoko-chan!" Kazuha and Ran shouted as they ran over to hug their friend. After Aoko was introduced to Kagome and Inuyasha, Aoko expanded on her earlier statement.

"Most youkai today hide what they really are. For example, Kaito looks human and smells mostly like one, but he's actually a youkai…well, according to him, he's a hanyou."

That triggered something in Inuyasha's memory. "Wait a minute…he wouldn't happen to be a white kitsune, now would he?"

"Yup."

Kagome caught on to what Inuyasha was saying. "Then he must the one you fought for the jewel shard a while ago."

"Try over five years ago," Inuyasha muttered to himself.

The mention of a fight brought back Aoko's memories. _Wait a minute…fight…white hair…dog-ears…IT'S HIM! NO, NO! WHY IS HE HERE!_ Aoko took a step back, trying to hide her sudden fear of Inuyasha. Ever since that fight, Aoko had dreams where the fight didn't turn out the way it did. Some, Kaito got hurt worse than he did. Others, Kaito never made it, dying in her arms as Inuyasha came for her.

Kazuha was surprised when she suddenly caught the smell of fear in her friend's scent. What was it about Inuyasha that scared her so? "Aoko-chan? You okay?"

Aoko by this time was visibly shaking. "No…" she mumbled. "No…please no…don't let it be him…don't let it be him…"

Kazuha was deeply disturbed by whatever was scaring Aoko. Usually, it'd take a heck of a lot to even make her shiver, and here she was, almost ready to bolt, scream, attack, or break down into tears.

Ran also noticed Aoko's reaction. She, too, wondered what was bothering her. "Aoko-chan? What's wrong?"

"He's…" Aoko gulped, pointing to Inuyasha. "He's going to take my Kaito away!"

------------

Ryoga sat down, still wondering where the heck he was. Ever since he'd been told by Ranma to look after Akane, he'd tried to find the Tendo Dojo. Soon after leaving Ranma's position, he'd done what he'd always done: he'd gotten lost. This time, he thought he was in Ukraine, but he wasn't for sure. After all, Ukraine and Brazil looked a lot a like, didn't they?

"ARG! DAMN YOU RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Ryoga shouted, not caring who heard him.

"And how exactly is this Ranchan's fault?" a voice asked. "After all, if he isn't alive, how can it be his fault? Unless, you want to claim he didn't die."

Ryoga turned around. Behind him stood Kounji Ukyo. "Hello, Ukyo," Ryoga mumbled, slightly embarrassed to be caught by her. "How are you?"

"Answer my question. How is this Ranma's fault? And what is it exactly?"

"Ranma made Akane think he was dead so he could run off with his other fiancées. You're in on it, aren't you?"

"Ranchan surviving? Do you think I'd be here if he did?" She said angrily, pointing to a sign nearby. It read: '_Nerima Cemetery_'.

"So you didn't know he's alive?" Ryoga was slightly surprised about this. He figured Ukyo would be the most likely to be in on the plot.

"Ranchan's alive? HOW!" Ukyo grabbed his collar, halfway lifting him up.

"He…he came to visit me the day of his 'death'," Ryoga related. He was slightly scared of the fire he saw in Ukyo's eyes.

"WHAT DID HE SAY!" Ukyo continued to shout at him, not caring about the way she was speaking.

"Um…" Ryoga was slightly embarrassed. He didn't remember everything Ranma had said because he was either terrified or angry at the time. "He said something about being from the future and that he was back here to stop something…you know? He never said what it was. He also said that the 'present' Ranma was alive, just captured by the Amazons, who had used the accident to take him by force."

"Damn that hussy!" Ukyo muttered under her breath. She should've realized something was up. "Wait a minute, if Ranchan's alive, why aren't you with Akane?"

"I've been trying to find my way to the dojo for over three days now. I have been to Ukraine, China, Chile, Ontario and other places I don't even know the name to," Ryoga grumbled. Then, he finally realized something. "Can you take me there? If Akane falls for me, then Ranma's all yours!"

Ukyo thought about this. If Ryoga was lying, then there was no harm done. But, if he was telling the truth… "Alright, I'll do it."

Ryoga sighed in relief. Ukyo slid her hand down to grab his wrist and proceeded to drag him in the direction of the Tendo Dojo. After almost losing Ryoga four times, they finally arrived at their destination. Ukyo left him standing there as he rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opened up to reveal a dishevel Kasumi.

"Hello, Ryoga-kun," Kasumi said, smiling. Ryoga figured nothing could ever make her frown. If someone did, they'd better run for the hills, for the entire Nerima population would be after them. NO ONE made Kasumi frown.

"Hello, Kasumi-san. Is Akane-san here?" Ryoga replied.

_Maybe he can…_"Of course, Ryoga-kun. Why don't you come in?" She moved out of the way and motioned for him to enter.

As soon as he'd entered, Kasumi led him to where Akane was sitting. On the way, she tried striking up conversation to help Ryoga understand the situation.

"Ryoga-kun? There's something you should know," Kasumi said, much to his surprise. "Akane-chan's not been herself lately…maybe…do you think you could help her out?"

_Akane-san not being herself? Ranma, you bastard! What did you do to her this time?_ "Um…sure, Kasumi-san. I'll try my best," Ryoga answered.

Kasumi sighed. That was the most she'd hoped for, even though she knew it wasn't Ryoga Akane needed, but Ranma. She feared that if something wasn't done soon, she'd lose another loved one, this one because of her own 'free-will', not that she'd consider the state Akane was in exactly decision-making material.

They rounded the corner to see an unusual sight. Instead of Soun and Genma trying to cheat while they played shoji, Soun was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. Genma, for once, was slowly eating a snack, like he wasn't really into doing it. Ryoga could see the flicker of lights coming from the living room, so he figured Nabiki was watching something to pass the time.

Finally, he sight fell on Akane. Her appearance surprised him the most. She was calming sitting on a rock by the koi pond, facing him. She was still dressed in her usual school uniform, but it was so ruffled and dirty, it looked like it might need a few times through the washer to clean it thoroughly. Her dark blue hair was a mess, looking like it hadn't been combed in days.

What scared him the most, though, was her eyes. Ryoga wondered how the bright chocolate eyes could ever become the dark, dull, almost lifeless brown ones that where staring at him without so much as a hint of recognition. It was then Ryoga noticed the blade in her right hand.

"No…" Ryoga muttered.

Time slowed to a stop for everyone in the dojo turned to face Akane. Ryoga started walking toward her, fear and shock slowing him down. He hoped to get there in time and watched in horror as the knife was raised to her left wrist.

"No! AKANE-SAN, DON'T DO IT!" Ryoga desperately yelled, speeding up his movement. He prayed his shout did something…anything…even if all it did was stall her for a second. A second was all he would need to reach her in time. Unfortunately, she gave no reaction to the yell. It was like she was oblivious to the outside world.

The knife continued on its trajectory, coming in contact with the pink, smooth skin just below her hand. With seemingly no effort, the blade cut through the flesh on that wrist and then flipped around to get her other arm. Ryoga arrived just as the knife finished making the second cut and Akane fell forwards, towards the pond.

He grabbed her and immediately laid her down on the grass. He looked into her eyes to see if she was still conscious and couldn't help but watch as the light started to fade from her eyes. Akane Tendo was dying, with a smile on her lips…

AN: Well, my sister once again has helped me with brainstorming and beta reading. She's been a very big help. I hope you're enjoying this fic! I'd like to thank the reviewers, for I got a lot more this time, and enjoyed reading every single one of them! Thanks! I'm including the reviewers from the first chapter, since I forgot to mention them last chapter! Keep up the reviews!

Reviewers:

Ashaton Saotome---a---Sonic 1---Dawn Love---xeno---DigiSim---  
aqualens---Tatsu-no-Houou---Sean---Innortal---Houshi-sama


	4. Here Without You

Fires of Vengeance

AN: The song's lyrics are edited. Remember: Bold is flashbacks, italicize is thoughts.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song or _Ranma ½_, _Inuyasha_, or _Detective Conan_.

Chapter 4 - Here Without You

_A hundred days had made me older  
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face  
A thousand nights had made me colder  
And I don't think I can look at this the same  
But all the miles that separate  
They disappeared now when I'm dreaming of your face_

_The miles just keep rolling as the people lead the way to say hello  
I've heard this life is overrated but I hope it gets better as we go_

_Everything I know, and anywhere I go  
It gets hard but it won't take away my love  
And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done  
It gets hard but it won't take away my love_

_I'm here without you baby but your still on my lonely mind  
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time  
I'm here without you baby but your still with me in my dreams  
But tonight, it's only you and me_

"Here Without You" - 3 Doors Down

**The knife continued on its trajectory, coming in contact with the pink, smooth flesh just below her hand. With seemingly no effort, the blade cut through the flesh on that wrist and then flipped around to get her other arm. Ryoga arrived just the knife finished making the second cut and Akane fell forwards, towards the pond.**

**He grabbed her and immediately laid her down on the grass. He looked into her eyes to see if she was still conscious and couldn't help but watch as the light started to fade from her eyes. Akane Tendo was dying…**

Ryoga never stopped to think about what he was doing. Only two things crossed his mind: Akane was hurt and she needed help fast. He grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and ripped it into strips of cloth. As fast as he could, he tightly wound the pieces of cloth around Akane's wrists, in an attempt to stop the bleeding. While he was working on Akane's right arm, he heard someone come up beside him, sit down, and pick up some of the cloth pieces. Taking a quick look over to his side, Ryoga watched as Kasumi doing the same thing to Akane's left wrist.

Soon, with the two of them working together, they had Akane all bandaged up. Ryoga looked at her face and noticed she was no longer conscious. Her brown eyes were half covered with her eyelids, and the dark blue hair was a mess. He gently picked her up and carried her into the house. Sitting her down on a nearby couch, he turned back to the family, only to notice Nabiki coming into the room.

"Before you ask," Nabiki said, holding her hands up in a quiet gesture. "I've already called Tofu-sensei. He should be here any minute."

Ryoga let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. _If Akane-san doesn't get attention soon, she'll…_ He didn't want to finish that train of thought. He continued to sit by her side, holding her hands, trying to keep them elevated so as to stop the blood flow. After what seemed like forever for him, there was a knock at the door. Nabiki immediately went to answer it, heading off Kasumi before she created a bigger problem than they already had. They did not need an incoherent Tofu at the moment.

"Thank goodness you're here," Ryoga heard Nabiki say as she opened the door.

"I came as fast as I could," came Tofu's reply. There was some light stepping as he walked down the corridor and into the living room before Ryoga saw the doctor. He looked slightly disheveled, most likely from getting a frantic call from Nabiki.

He briskly walked over to Akane and Ryoga and knelt down beside the couch, checking Akane's vitals as he pulled things out of the black bag he'd brought with him. A few moments later, a confused Tofu looked up at the anxious family waiting to hear about the youngest Tendo's condition.

"What's happened?" Tofu asked. "Her ki is all out of whack, and if something isn't done soon, she may not be the same."

"It's Ranma-kun," Soun said, tears already starting to flow from his eyes. "He's…he's…" he couldn't finish as his usual sobs overpowered his voice, leaving Kasumi to comfort him as he left, not being able to take the pain of seeing his daughter so hurt.

"What's happened with Ranma?" Tofu continued to press. _There is something amiss here… something big._

"He's dead." Nabiki's statement made everyone shiver because of the way she said it: like it was final, expected, almost even angry. That was very unusual for her, for Nabiki almost never showed any emotion, especially anger.

"Dead? What happened?" Tofu was surprised he hadn't heard about this before now.

"There was a train accident," Ryoga explained "Ranma, being the jerk and egotist he is, had to save _everyone_ even when he was told there was no one left to save. He went back into the wreckage and while he was in there, there was an explosion. Cologne went in a soon as she could safely, but returned empty handed, saying there was no trace of him left."

_No trace?_ "How big was the explosion?" Tofu asked.

"Bad enough that not even Cologne or I could get with in a 2 meter radius of it," Ryoga replied.

_Even then, there should've been something left…What am I missing?_ Tofu decided to think about it later. Saving Akane's life was more important. He spent the next few minutes undoing the makeshift bandages Ryoga and Kasumi applied and used his own supplies to disinfect and wrap her wrists. When he was finished, he put the tools back in his back and stood up, turning to the others.

"She'll survive, but I'm afraid it seems she's slipped deep into herself, as supported by her ki. I'd like to keep her at the clinic until she wakes up." Seeing no one objecting, he gently picked up Akane and continued to walk out the door. Ryoga followed the doctor, not wanting to get lost and wanting to stay by Akane's side.

------------

Kudo Shinichi stared at the campfire he and Kaito had started while waiting for Conan and both Ranmas to return with whatever food they'd managed to gather. They were about two day's distance from Nerima, Tokyo, and he wanted to keep the pace they'd set since leaving the amazons. Ranma had figured Shampoo would be coming after them, and according to the life threads, she wasn't too far behind. _Hmm, maybe I'd better check on her position again,_ Shinichi thought to himself. Having nothing better to do, he reached out with his powers, while still in his ningen form. It was something he'd learned in the five years of not having Ran nearby.

As usual, the first thing he felt was all those who passed on nearby. Surprisingly, there wasn't that many. _Hmm, death must've decided to follow someone else today._ Next, he felt the threads of those who were near death; usually, they were the elderly or those in the ICU at hospitals. As he was moving through those threads, one of the near death ones caught his attention. He wasn't for sure why, but his mind wouldn't let him leave it alone.

Giving in to the temptation of a mystery, as it was always difficult to find out exactly who the threads belonged to unless he had met them before, he reached for it. The thread was holding onto life by a few hairs, but as he was holding it, he could tell, if nothing was done soon, this person would die, even when the body was mostly healthy.

Like usual, whenever he held a thread, he could feel a few of the person's strongest emotions. Sometimes, he would feel love, other's hate. Very rare would he feel nothing. The only time that ever happened was when subject was in a coma. What surprised Shinichi was this thread was not like the others. Yes, he could feel different emotions coming from it, but he also felt an emptiness radiating from the center of it. This intrigued him even more. He'd hardly found threads like this. From the direction the thread went, it was coming from Nerima. In fact, the thread seemed vaguely familiar…

_OH SHOT! IT'S HER!_ Shinichi's mind screamed.

Immediately, he went into action. First, he coated the thread, making it harder for her to die. True, she could still unconsciously end her life, but at least she'd mostly likely be safe until she woke up from the self-induced coma. Second, he sent his senses out, looking for the two Ranma's he knew where somewhere nearby, most likely training while gathering food. Sure enough, they were a few meters away, coming closer as he thought.

Without waiting another second, Shinichi reverted back to his shinigami form. When the two Ranmas entered the clearing, along with Conan, they were surprised to see a shinigami Shinichi with Kaito in the processes of dropping his illusion. Conan's danger sense went into overdrive.

"What's wrong?" the present Ranma asked.

The word Shinichi spoke sent shivers down the spine of both Ranmas. "Akane-san."

"What happened?" the two Ranmas said at the exact same time.

"I don't really know. From what I can tell, she tried to kill herself yesterday. She's right now in a coma."

Both Ranmas thought the exact same thing. _I've got to get to her._

"Conan, change your form we're traveling as fast as we possibly can. If we don't do something, Akane-san's going to die soon. Not even I can stop that." Conan nodded his head once to Shinichi and promptly changed. Over the past few days, he'd learned to trust his 'niichan', so he followed explicitly the commands he was given.

While Shinichi was talking to the others, Kaito had been cleaning up camp. He'd gathered all the equipment and put it away, storing somewhere on himself. As soon as he finished breaking camp, he walked back over to the group and put out the fire. Plunging into darkness, it took a few moments for his kitsune eyes to adjust.

Shinichi noticed the sudden lack of light and figured Kaito had broken camp. He motioned for the others to follow him and he took off in the direction of the Nerima district. Because of the neko-ken training, both Ranmas could see and where able to keep up with the pace the shinigami had set. They both hope they'd make it in time to stop Akane from doing it again.

------------

Akane sat down on the hill, over looking the field before her. She didn't know where she was, but she didn't care. Ranma was dead. That was all she could think about. The only man she ever truly loved was gone from her life forever. What made it worse was there was nothing she could do about it. _Oh, Ranma! Why did you have to go? Where are you?_

"Hey, tomboy!" a voice called out from behind her.

Akane immediately flipped around. Standing there, looking like his usual smug self was…"R…Ranma?"

Akane didn't want to believe what she was seeing. Ranma was standing in front of her, ALIVE! _No, he's dead… he'sdeadhe'sgottabedead. I'mgoingcrazy… they'regoingtolockmeup… Ranma'sinfrontofme… Ranma's alive… alive._ Akane didn't think anymore. She just acted on her body's instincts alone. Shakily standing up, she reached over and brought him into a glomp that would make Shampoo green with envy.

"Akane? What's wrong?"

That did it for Akane. The real tears she'd been holding in since his 'death' came tumbling out. Before, it seemed as if she was crying for her family. Now, she was crying for herself. All Akane could do was cling to Ranma and cry on his shoulder. She increased the strength of her hold as the force of her wail increased. Soon, she started having a hard time breathing from the torrent of tears streaming down the side of her face. She had to calm down or she would go unconscious from lack of air. That was something she didn't want to do.

"Akane? You alright?" Ranma asked again.

Akane shook her head. "How is this possible? You're…you're…d…dead!" Her statement sent her off on another storm, draining her already low reserves.

Ranma put his hand behind his head. "Actually," he said, halfway laughing. "I'm not for sure either. I mean, one second I heard the explosion and a pain ran though my body, and the next, I was behind you."

"So…so it's true…you really are dead…" Akane looked down into her lap, her depression building. "Why? Why are you haunting me? Do you hate me that much?"

"Honestly, Akane, I'm as lost as you. I've got no idea why I'm here. If I'm supposed to be dead, this sure ain't the paradise I was hoping for."

Like usual, Akane's anger got the better of her. "Paradise? You want paradise! If you don't think this is it, why. don't. YOU. _LEAVE!_" Like usual, she summoned one of her mallets and hit Ranma into the air. Like usual, Ranma sailed off into the sky until he became just another star in the heavens.

"Stupid…egotistic…arrogant…chauvinist…PERVERT!" Akane screamed. She continued on her tirade until the red haze of anger dissolved. When she realized what she'd just done, Akane felt even worse. The pain she'd felt before was nothing to the soul-tearing anguish she was now dealing with.

"No…" she mumbled as tears once again started to course down the sides of her cheeks. "No…Ranma…" She couldn't finish, for the heart-racking sobs overpowered her voice. _I did it again,_ she thought. _I sent Ranma away. Once again, I've lost him. I had the chance…I…I LOST HIM FOR GOOD!_ Her thoughts derailed as she once again reflected on her previous actions toward her fiancée.

In her mind, blinders ripped away, she saw what she'd done to Ranma. She saw all the horrible things she'd said and did to him. All the times she called him a pervert, a hentai, a jerk…almost every single time, she could now see it wasn't his fault. But no, she would never let him explain. It was just easier to get angry and hit.

_What have I become?_ Akane thought as the flashbacks continued. _Every time something went wrong, I blamed it on Ranma…just like Ryoga. Every time one of the other fiancées grabbed him, even when he did nothing or tried to get out, I'd hit Ranma. I'd blame it on Ranma. He was right about me, I'm just an uncute, unsexy, terrible tomboyish fiancée. No wonder he never liked me. _

She started placing things together as the memories went on. _Ranma never picked fights with Ryoga or P-chan. It was the other way. Ryoga, with his 'Die Ranma!', or 'Ranma, prepare to die!'. Why couldn't I see it before? Why did I let Ryoga try to push us apart?…not that he did the worst of it. If anyone is to be blamed for the failure of our engagement, it'd be me. I was the one always hitting Ranma, insulting him…WHY DID I DO IT!_

Akane had no answer to the once question that kept coming up: "Why?" She continued to think about it, but her brain still came up with nothing. Eventually, the memories stopped, leaving her to hurt alone, longing for a fiancée she felt she never deserved and could no longer have.

"Why?" Akane continued to mumble after her tears started to subside. "Why was I so mean to Ranma? Why would I always push Ranma away?"

Neither her heart nor the heavens seemed to have the answer she desperately wanted and needed. Akane figured if she knew why she worked so hard on pushing Ranma away, maybe she could correct it. Then, possibly, she might still be able love. _Not that I' d want anyone else beside Ranma…Ranma, where are you?_

As she continued to sit there, the air around her seemed to grow darker with her depression. The more she focused on her loss, the more depressed she became. Soon, the anguish was visible to the naked eye by the dark cloud hanging over her. If anyone had been nearby, they would've been running away, screaming about depression, Shi Shi Hokodans, and big explosions.

Soon, her emotions and chi built up to the critical mass. Akane let loose a loud cry of _"RANMA!"_ as she released all the bent up hurt and anguish. A part of Akane realized what she was trying, and hoped it worked. It wanted closure, an ending to the pain, a final bang. _After all, _the part thought, _without Ranma, what good is life?_

Unfortunately, it seemed she couldn't die. After the dust cleared near where she was sitting, Akane found herself lying on the ground, completely devoid of energy and most emotions. All she could feel was the depression, which was a hundred times worse than anything she'd felt before. It made her want to just keel over and die. As she continued to lie there, the anguish of her soul increased to the point she didn't know what to do anymore. She felt like she couldn't go on living, didn't want to go on living. _What is there worth living for now?_ Akane asked herself. _There's no more Ranma. _Once again, tears came to her eyes, and she let herself be lost in the torrent of her cries, still mumbling about losing Ranma.

------------

"How is she, sensei?" Tendo Soun asked.

"Not much better than when you asked yesterday. She's still in the coma," came the reply over the phone. "Nabiki and Ryoga are still over here, but I don't think there's anything they can do. If she is to survive, it has to be of her own choice. There's only one person I know who might be able to do anything, but according to you, he's dead."

"Ranma."

"Yes, but without him, I don't think we will have much hope. You should be prepared for the worst." _Should I tell him?_ Tofu Ono wondered. _It might make it even harder for him and the others, but…_ His thoughts were interrupted by a machine's alarm and Nabiki's shout.

"TOFU-SENSEI! SOMETHING'S WRONG!" she screamed from the room Akane was staying in.

Tofu quickly said goodbye to Soun, hung up the phone and rushed into the other room. As he ran towards the bed Akane was lying on, he shifted his vision to check on her ki. It was getting worse. He now could actively see the ki disappearing, proving she was wishing herself to die, even when she was unconscious.

"This isn't good," Tofu muttered as his vision changed back so he could read the machines. The one throwing the fit was connected to her pulse. It was showing her heart was beating a lot slower than usual, too slow for one to survive for long. "No, Akane-chan," Tofu told her, "You can't go like this. There are others who need you."

He grabbed Nabiki, pushed her in front of the monitor, told her to watch it for changes, and then took off at a sprint for his main office. He came back a few moments later, a syringe in his hand. Without stopping at Nabiki or Ryoga's look of confusion, he injected the contents into Akane's right arm. A few moments later, Akane's heart started to pick up the beat, making everyone sigh in relief.

"That should do it for now," Tofu said as he headed back out the door. "Keep an eye on her, you two, okay?" They both nodded in agreement.

"Nabiki-san?" Ryoga asked a few moments later. "What's happening to her?"

"I don't know, Ryoga-kun," Nabiki replied, tears visible in her eyes for the first time in years. "I really don't know."

------------

"So exactly what is going on?" Heiji asked Inuyasha.

"Many, many things," he answered. "Some of which, you can't know yet."

"Kudo said you'd explain things, but so far," Heiji motioned to the group gathered. "You haven't done much. We've been coming to these 'meetings' for 4 days now, but you've yet to tell us anything new. What is happening with Kudo? Where is he?" Heiji did not lose his temper easily, but his inner detective knew something was going on, something big. What made it worse was Inuyasha didn't seem to want to reveal anything yet.

Inuyasha sighed. _Even though Shinichi said not to tell too much, I think there are a few who need to know more. I guess I'd better let them know. _He turned to face everyone gathered. "Fine, I'll let a few of you know, but only a few. There is some things I don't want everyone to know." Everyone nodded, even when a few of them figured they'd be the ones left out.

"Alright, I'll need to talk with Hattori-kun, and Mouri-san first," Inuyasha looked over at Kagome for approval. She nodded.

He motioned for Heiji and Ran to follow him into one of the bedrooms upstairs. They'd been meeting at Kagome's shrine, as it was easier and a more localized position for all of them, especially since the rest of her family was on vacation at the moment. He chose to use Kagome's room, as he'd been in there the most. Shutting the door after the other two had entered, he faced them, prepared for the worse, even if his face didn't show it. His current poker face could rival Kaito's, even if he'd learned it from Shinichi.

"Okay," Inuyasha began, "the first thing you need to know is that I'm not from this time."

Ran cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean by that? Don't you just hide your youkai side?"

"No, in truth, I'm from about 500 years in the past. I come to this time by a well, the Bone-eater well at this shrine to be exact."

"Ah," Ran exclaimed, "so that's how you and Kagome met!"

"Not exactly," Inuyasha continued. "At first, she came through the well…" He proceeded to give a quick account of their adventures in the Warring States Era, including their eventual fight and defeat of Naraku. "But, then things changed. The last time Kagome saw me, my age, without the time spent sealed to the tree, was about 17 human years. Now, even though it doesn't show, I've lived another 5 years without her." He had to close his eyes at the memories of the time he spent without having Kagome nearby. "Things have changed, and not for the better."

"Wait a minute," Heiji interrupted. "How can you live 5 years without her, when she said she'd only not been with you for about two days?"

Inuyasha laughed. "You're as much of a detective as Shinichi says you are. You're right, it's not possible using your current knowledge of space and time. But, there is always something new. True, for Kagome, it'd only been two days, but for me, I survived for five years without her, and in her time."

"Whoa, slow down there," Heiji held his hands up, "how can that happen? I mean, if it was in your time, then I might say it's because of the well, but in _our_ time?"

"That is because I'm not from this time era either. Neither is Shinichi."

That blew it for Ran. "HE'S WHAT?"

Inuyasha had to flatten his ears against the top of his head to avoid losing his hearing. "Yes, Mouri-san, the Kudo Shinichi you met six days ago is not the Kudo Shinichi you've known and is your age. He, along with a Saotome Ranma and I, are actually from five years in the future. He did not want to tell you this, but I figured you needed to know, since they haven't arrived back yet."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Heiji said, moving to sit down on the floor while the others remained standing. "Who hasn't arrived yet? Are you saying there are two Kudo Shinichi's running around right now?"

"Yes and no," Inuyasha shook his head. There were still some things he didn't want to reveal yet. "You'll understand in time. There is a reason for our return to the 'past'. In five years, you, Hattori Heiji, will be dead, along with many others."

------------

Saotome Ranma ran down the streets of Tokyo, looking for only one place in particular. If he could find it, maybe this nightmare would end. He didn't like the way it was going, and if it continued, he knew he wouldn't like the ending. _Nothing else matters as long as she's there, _Ranma thought to himself as he continued on his path, heading for the Nerima ward.

"Ranma-kun, slow down, she's no longer in danger!" he heard Shinichi's voice from behind him. Ever since Shinichi had warned them the first time, they'd been on edge. Then, coupled with the scare of this morning, it became too much for the protective youth.

"I don't care," he shot back. "I've got to get to her!"

"If you go to her half-dead, you won't be of much use!" Conan interjected. He could understand Ranma's feeling, but if he didn't think this through, it could blow up in their faces.

"I don't care," Ranma shot back again.

"Look, I know you care about her. You can't deny it. I know you've even been missing her. Hell, I've been missing her for the past five years, but if you don't do this correctly, it could cause major problems in the future," the other Ranma retorted.

"That doesn't matter. Nothing matters 'cept Akane."

There was just no stopping him with words, the others realized. The older Ranma looked up at Shinichi, who nodded. Sighing, his mind somewhat protesting his next course of actions, he increased his speed and tackled the younger Ranma, pinning him to the ground.

"HEY!" the younger male shouted as he struggled to get free. "LET ME GO! I'VE GOT TO GET TO AKANE!"

"I'm not letting you go," the older Ranma stated, "until you listen to what we have to say. There are many things going on here, things you don't understand. If you go to her right now, it can cause a huge amount of problems that I don't have time to deal with, that we don't have time to deal with. Understand?"

The younger Ranma continued to struggle for a few more minutes, before he finally gave up and listened to what his 'elders' had to say. After a few explanations, some written out in very easy to understand words, Ranma finally agreed to wait, even though it was eating him up inside to be this far from Akane.

"If one thing changes, ONE THING, I don't care who or what it is, no one's going to stop me from going to her!" Ranma informed them after the explanations. Everyone else nodded their affirmation.

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Ryoga looked at the unconscious form of Akane, tears once again starting to blur his vision. He could say, in a strange, twisted way, he'd finally beaten Ranma at something. Here, Akane thought Ranma was dead. Yet, these thoughts brought him no comfort. Even if Akane finally did 'forget' about Ranma now that she though he was gone, she'd never be the same Akane he fell in love with. This experience had hurt her worse than he'd originally thought it would.

If you'd asked him a week ago, before Ranma's 'death', he'd have told you, 'Yeah, Akane might be sad for a few days, but she'd change around and see I'm the right one for her. I deserve her more than that jerk.' Now, though, he could see the error in his thinking. It appeared, to him, he'd miss judged Akane's feelings for the martial artist. It seemed she cared a great deal for him, even to go as far as to try to kill herself because she thought he was gone.

Ryoga was glad she'd not been able to make good on her try. He shuddered as his brain unsuccessfully tried to push down the picture of a future without Akane. For him, there was no such thing. Any future without Akane was too dark to be even a possibility. Still, if Akane did wake up, he figured she'd survive, and he'd still find a way to bring her around to his thinking. _After all, she deserves better than that arrogant, womanizing bastard!_ he told himself. His mental ranting on Ranma continued until Nabiki entered the room again, finally getting back from eating.

"Any changes?" she asked.

"None," he replied, not moving to look at her.

"Oh, Akane. What are we going to do with you?" Nabiki asked herself. She moved to sit down on an empty chair on the other side of Akane from Ryoga.

Just as she sat down, she noticed something was different about Akane. In the days previous, Akane'd hardly moved at all. This time, she was starting to thrash around. Not knowing exactly what to do, she moved to hold her down, while motioning to Ryoga to get Tofu. As soon as Ryoga left the room, leaving the door half-open as a way to guide him back, Akane stopped moving, which surprised Nabiki. She looked down at her younger sister to see her starting to come around.

Nabiki gave a sigh of relief as she released her hold and sat back down, waiting for Akane to completely wake up. She didn't have to wait long. A few moments later, her dark brown eyes opened and looked around the room. Apparently not finding what she was seeking, Akane curled herself into a ball. Nabiki could see tears starting to course down her cheeks once again. Akane's mouth was moving and Nabiki moved closer to try to hear what her sister was saying.

"…true…he's gone…why'd he have to go…"

Nabiki didn't hear anything more as the door banged against the wall and she looked up to see Tofu and Ryoga coming into the room. She moved away to give Tofu complete access to his charge. After a few minutes of checking over Akane, he stood back and sighed.

"Akane-chan," Tofu spoke, his voice kind and soft, more so than usual, Nabiki thought.

Akane lifted her head and stared at the doctor. "Tofu…sensei?"

"Akane-chan, what happened?" Even though some might have argued it was better to wait a while before trying to get her to say anything about what had happened, Tofu knew Akane's personality. If they didn't do something about it _now_, she'd have major problems later.

"I…I saw it…" she mumbled, her tears slightly increasing.

"Saw what?" Tofu continued.

"It…it was with him…with Ranma…" Hearing herself speak Ranma's name, her tears increased dramatically and she couldn't say anything more for a few minutes. Tofu just stood there, clam and collected, making motions to Ryoga and Nabiki not to say anything or move closer.

After a while, Akane calmed down enough to talk again. "It was…was taking him away…AWAY FROM ME!" she shouted, breaking out into tears once again.

"Akane-chan, what was taking Ranma away?" Tofu asked.

"A…a shinigami…" At the mention of the death god, the room suddenly felt much colder. Even Ryoga didn't know what to say. He'd seen Ranma alive, but if he was, why did Akane say she saw him with a shinigami? _Is it because he didn't want me to go after her when he couldn't do anything about it?_ Ryoga's face turned darker. _That's got to be it. He thought up the whole 'from the future' to keep me away from her when in reality, he's already dead and can't do anything about it. _

"The…the shinigami said something about…having to hurry because of an appointment, and R…Ranma said he wanted to…to see me before he…he WENT!" She finished her statement with a wail that showed how much she was actually hurting. Not being able to stand it any longer, Nabiki moved over and held her sister as Akane lost herself in her pain.

Nabiki looked up at the doctor. "What do we do now?" she asked.

For once, he didn't have an answer. "I really don't know. Shinigami's are purely legends, but if one were to show up, it could cause much more problems. Supposedly, they only show up and escort the dead if the dead either did something incredibly heroic or evil. If there was one with Ranma, it's safe to assume he's dead."

Ryoga pondered the doctor's statement. _Incredibly heroic or evil…heroic or evil…evil…That's what happened! Ranma's finally getting his come upance for making my life hell! I finally get my revenge, even if I didn't do it myself._ He continued on this train of thought until they heard the front door to the clinic open and shut a few moments later.

Tofu moved to the door to shout down to the customers that the clinic wasn't open, but he never got the chance. Nabiki watched in a mixture of horror and amusement as the young doctor's face paled at what ever was walking up the stairs.

She shifted slightly to lay Akane back down on the bed, who buried her face in her pillow, and then stood up. She didn't get to move more than a foot or two when the new comer reached the door and ran inside the room, making it to the side of Akane's bed. It was Ranma. Alive.

"Hey there, tomboy," he spoke softly, his voice showing a slight bit of affection.

Immediately, Akane's head snapped up and looked right into Ranma's blue eyes. "R…Ranma?" she asked timidly, not completely wanting to believe he was there.

Ranma smiled. "Miss me?"

Years later, he would wonder how she moved so fast. One second, she was lying on the bed, looking up at him. The next, he found himself seated on the bed with Akane on his lap, hugging him tightly and crying into his chest. Personally, he didn't mind the attention, but to him, this was very unlike Akane. Still he just held her as her tears started to calm down. Once she'd finished her bawling session, he pushed her slightly away to look back into her eyes. Before either of them got a chance to say anything, though, a collective gasp as heard from Tofu, Nabiki and Ryoga. Both Akane and Ranma turned to look at what surprised everyone else. Standing in the doorway, was a shinigami.

One thought passed through Akane's mind at the new development. _He's going to take my Ranma away!_

AN: Ranma has finally been reunited with Akane, but what will happen now? Find out in the next chapter, which will be posted soon. I once again thank my sister for beta reading and helping brainstorm. Some people might say Nabiki's Out of Character, but the way I see it, if someone or something is threatening or hurting her family, she is very much a different person. I'm a little disappointed. I have over 1300 hits for the story, and yet I only got two reviews in a week. (I know I seem a little eccentric, but I really like reading reviews!) Please, please. Take the time to write a review and make this author's day. I hope to everyone reviews so I can read their reaction!

Reviewers:

Ivana Reveiw---Innortal


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